TOKYO -- Emerging countries are set to issue as much as $3 trillion in new government bonds this year, nearly double the 2019 total, with central bank support that risks increasing these economies' reliance on institutions that are at least nominally independent.
Government spending in these countries is surging amid a scramble to shore up coronavirus-battered economies. The International Monetary Fund projects that the overall fiscal deficit of 40 emerging-market countries, including China, will swell to 10.6% of gross domestic product this year from 4.9% in 2019.